Friday at 6PM is the final 2 episodes of Adventure Time Season 6. The First part, “Hot Diggity Doom” was boarded by Tom Herpich and Steve Wolfhard. The second part “The Comet” was boarded by myself and Andy Ristaino. It’s the only board I ever did with Andy. It’s also Andy’s last board. He left the show for a while to work on personal projects, which is something I hope to do in the future as well.

I’m really glad I got to do this board with Andy. He’s a chill dude and we connect a lot about psychedelic visual designs and scenarios.

I hope y’all enjoy this two part collision of motifs and themes we’ve been working with for a while. I believe Season 6, more so than previous seasons, is more illuminating when viewed as a whole.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

“Everything’s falling into place,
I’m right where I should be.
The tides of Life all led me here,
and that’s why I’m not scared.
I know the answer will appear…
please.”

It’s a sort of a line between thoughtful interpretation and completely thoughtless judgement. I don’t mind if someone interprets something in a way I didn’t anticipate. In fact, I really enjoy seeing that sort of thing. What I don’t appreciate is when the author(s) aren’t given the benefit of the doubt and there’s no negotiation with the work: rather just a set of “standards” that the work must fit into or else fail in the eyes of particular viewers. The people who engage media in this way are basically the worst. They’re the kind of critics who, for a left field example, hated Hausu when it came out in Japan because it didn’t fit their notions of “good cinema” at the time.

Even if someone’s meaning they draw from the work is different from the author’s, you can always tell the level of intelligence and care they put into finding meaning. I think that’s all that matters really. It doesn’t matter if the meanings totally synch up.

Luke

Finn isn’t that anymore, he is 16 now and it seems he also goes more mature. Remember “The Pajama War”? Finn did nothing act imature or tried to impress her in a stupid way, his interactions with PB was very different than before, talking about personality stuff and having fun together. I really love that episode and see that as a good example, that their could become a couple possibly. We just need another moment between them like this, love doesn’t need always that blushing or acting awkward, is how they like each other and talking about their feelings and in the end it’s just a question of time, they getting closer.

Sithsaber

1. Can something be “too” intelligent? If it isn’t accessible to its audience do you think it should be made more clear or is obfuscation an artform in and of itself? I’ve always liked the trippiness of forming, but without the crassness of the dialogue, I think…okay it would be amazing regardless. I’ve just been noticing lately how your more far out episodes are always full of some pretty off-kilter conversations. I’m beginning to think you do that on purpose.

2. Hey asshole(I’m joking), stop directing me towards interesting looking cinema. All
I wanted to do today was go home and watch season 3 of the muppet show,
but now i’m going to be blown away by…that. I was really looking forward to pairing baccardi with a marathon of the muppet show.

3. Good luck with your next endeavor.

Sithsaber

Dance,shippers,dance.

Jude

I feel like that was more of just a joke than a hint. I know he’s always been kinda evil and dark inside like in Hoots, but I mean Orgalorg specifically. They’ve never hinted at that. What would be better if throughout the past couple seasons they made references to Orgalorg as some bad monster and then revealed that Gunther was Orgalorg. But in that episode they revealed a lot in one sitting. I guess it wasn’t that much though, I’m just used to the show building things up over time.

Jude

well I said if it was a little different. I meant the comet scene felt like an ending for the show. Finn’s choice you know. Also I want the King of Ooo to stay king as long as possible. He is funny as hell

Falconwarriorman

Ok so I was looking at some of the comments here and I saw a bunch about Flame Princess and love. I don’t know if he loves her, but I think he thinks he does. But really I wanna ask if he still thinks he loves Bubblegum. In Too Old he decided that he shouldn’t love her because she’s too old, but in Breezy she appears to him and tells him to let love be his guide and then he spouts a tree arm. I think he actually loves her but he doesn’t want to and I think he wants to love Flame Princess so much that he convinced himself he loves her more than Bubblegum. I am mostly basing this off of Breezy, sorry if I’m being dumb.

Jesse Moynihan

There’s the traditional cartoon idea about this where everything has to be laid out in clear beats so a baby can understand it. I talk about this in a previous blog post. This is what I was taught when I first arrived on Adventure Time. However, with our popularity, we were allowed to experiment with the form. If given the opportunity to experiment in a mainstream media sandbox, you better take it, or else you are a coward in my opinion. Once a thing becomes a success, it is your obligation as an artist to abuse the freedoms allotted to you by whatever company is funding your project. The other choice is simply to tow the line and stagnate creatively; essentially chasing the dragon of trying to recreate the accidental magic that made the project a hit in the first place. Can something be “too intelligent”? Apparently for some people on the internet, yes. Does it bother me? Yes a little bit. Should I care? No.

Jesse Moynihan

What does the word Love mean to you?

maththemath

If only Finn was willing to partake Breezy’s pollen and become her drone.

maththemath

He’s only two years “younger” than her, actually.

maththemath

Finn’s over Bubblegum. Oddly, this might mean that she’s less Too Old than ever before.

maththemath

Q: Which Adventure Time workers actually do write fanfiction?

Isaa Lacrymosaa

Love is not just passional love is the highest energy of the universe

Isaa Lacrymosaa

hey jesse i want to thank you for the last episode, i love the scene of the comet and finn, this resonate deep in my soul like a forgotten memory, keep going! you do a wonderful job in AT teaching truths and important values that the people seems to forget

greetings from chile 🙂

maththemath

we need a gated mountain compound

Jesse Moynihan

What would be the point of a person making the show writing fanfiction?

Jesse Moynihan

Thanks that’s nice of you to say

maththemath

I’m working on a gigantic feature of the 50 best episodes, and “Frost & Fire” is in my top ten. Massively underrated, and one of the first really great interrogations of Finn’s very real flaws. Then his desire to chase everything to an answer would almost kill him in the next season.

maththemath

Haha, technically Natasha did Adventure Time fanfiction in the form of comics for a bit, only to have her fanfic canonized and made reality.

But I mean fanfic in general. I’m mostly asking to be funny, but it would be amusing to learn if someone actually did.

Jesse Moynihan

Hm yeah it could be that I’m a bit older and I don’t understand the value of fanfiction. The closest I came to making a fanfiction thing was a Doctor Who comic I wanted to write. I started to work on it, and realized it was stupid to waste my time on Doctor Who fanfiction when I could be working on my own shit instead. For the same reason, I stopped participating in pop culture tribute art shows a few years ago.

Jesse Moynihan

I might have been a little brash using the word “idiot” in this
response. I wasn’t meaning to imply that you are an idiot. I was
implying talking about an abstract someone else who might flagrantly
misunderstand the episode.

http://www.ihatedisqus.com perciousangle

this is so righteous

Peter Bognar

Hey Jesse, I just came to say thanks for the episode. I confess, on first watching I felt a bit underwhelmed, but then I realized that my expectations clouded my appreciation of what actually was happening (it’s kinda you guys’ fault for throwing up so many plot points and mysteries in the air).

I’m a huge advocate of author- (as opposed to story/formula) driven writing and tend to respect the author’s decisions in turning towards the less ‘popular’ solutions for stories in order to tell what they wanted to – stories are not about confrontations and fighting, action is merely a device for the story to move in one direction or other (it bugs me to no end when people speculate who the “final boss” will be in Adventure Time for Finn to fight.)
.
Seeing Finn arrive at peace and oneness with the Universe and realizing, acecepting and kinda dismissing his cosmic origins after the low-point that was Breezy feels pretty satisfying.

It did bug me that he didn’t ask the one important question from Martin before he bailed from his failed existence (about his mom), but then again, when you look at your existence from a cosmic perspective, the identity of your ‘flesh-mother’ might not seem so important…

There are some points that I hope will be clarified in later episodes, though…
One is: is the thorn still there in Finn’s palm? Is grass sword a kinda “desperation move” now, or will it stay like that? (There’s also the Finn sword that’s still not really understood, that makes two starngely transcendent weapon-mainfestations of Finn…)

I have so many questions, but I’ll jsut put up one: could you say Finn’s dream from Hoots (that was originally to come true by CO’s appearance) came fully true with this episode (seeing that Gunther came to take the disco ball that s/he did)?

(Does Gunther have a gender?)

LeeRF

Hello, just thought I’d add my two ‘pennith and congratulate you for these wonderful episodes.
I watch AT with my two daughters (7 and 9) and they are totally in love with the series. So much so that I’m finding it hard to find anything of equivalent depth for them to watch (we can’t watch AT all the time!)
My youngest daughter loves Gunther so seeing her reaction to the Orgalorg was interesting to say the least. She says she always thought Gunther had more going on under the surface.
My eldest is probably in love with Finn and I can’t think of a better role model for her. Finn is pure of heart and that’s something you can’t teach a child to be, you just hope they gravitate towards that way of being, or rather, not wander too far off the tracks.
I grew up with Frank Herbert’s ‘Golden Path’ as my guide through all the more difficult stuff and I hope my daughters take their inspiration and guidance from Adventure Time. There’s important things going on with this show and it’s a marvellous oasis amoungst the barren desert of ‘mainstream kids TV’. I’m still wondering how old my daughters need to be before I can give them Forming 1+2 to read?
Anyway, onwards and good luck with all your future projects.

maththemath

I don’t do it either, although I dabbled in Bionicle stuff when I was about twelve. But I do read a Twitter account that reads them. The other day it showed one of Goku singing karaoke to Linkin Park.

Sithsaber

But does the comet understand that?

Falconwarriorman

The word means what it means, to me and to everyone else. I am just saying I don’t think he actually loves Flame Princess and he does love Bubblegum, because your crazy dream sword visions don’t lie to you. Also don’t answer if you don’t want to, just don’t ask questions like that.

Jesse Moynihan

I’d say they can handle Forming when they’re 13 or 14 haha I don’t know. Glad to know that kids are still digging AT! I have no sense of these things.

Jesse Moynihan

The thorn is still in his palm. As to Gunther’s sex, I don’t think it’s determined. Gunther gave birth which, among the penguin species is considered a female function . But Gunther is not really a penguin. Gunther is Orgalorg, who happens to look like a penguin. Orgalorg might have 3 vaginas and 10 tentacle dicks for all I know. I don’t know and who gives a shit.

Peter Bognar

That’s an unexpectedly …graphic answer. That wasn’t even my main question, maybe to many people were bugging you about it…?
Anyway, thanks for the reply, I love the show, thanks for the great episodes!

Jesse Moynihan

Yeah sorry I answered this before I had my tea

JohnA

I like it when people try to tell Jesse what to do on his own site…

Also, love means different things to different people, so don’t act like everyone feels love in the same way.

Falconwarriorman

I love when people talk about “Jesse” like they know him personally. Sorry I just get annoyed when people answer questions with questions. I ain’t telling him what to do, it’s just that he’s not helping with that reply. Also love doesn’t mean different things to different people, well at least not for the most part. When I say love you know what I mean without knowing me. I will state the original question again: Does Finn love Bubblegum or not? You don’t have to know what love is to me, you gotta know what love is to Finn. The question is from me, not about me. Whateves.

JohnA

I’m sure he loves her in the same way he loves Jake or BMO. There are different kinds of love, dude.
You don’t love your family the same way you love a spouse or significant other. You don’t love your dog the same way as any of them.
As far as talking about Jesse as if I know him…is that because I used his name? Nothing else I said implies that I know the dude. It was more a comment on you being pushy about your take on love. Heck, maybe Jesse isn’t even allowed to comment on that relationship, so he responded in a way that is appropriate and wouldn’t get him in trouble with the rest of the AT team.
I’m guessing he’s just more sick of people asking him stupid ‘shipping questions though.

Falconwarriorman

Not a shipping question bro. I don’t hope anyone on that show ends up with anyone else on the show. I am invested in the plot line though and I wanna know what will happen. I was simply asking something about an episode he wrote, and I do understand that he doesn’t have to answer because this is his website. My point is that for a while it was clear that he was cool with being friends with PB, but I think he might love her because he dreamt her and stuff. And I do understand that love can come in different forms, but I’m talking about romantic love. Also my take on love isn’t pushy at all, maybe I was pushy about how he answered my question with a question, which I am allowed to get annoyed by for obvious reasons. I enjoyed the parts of your comment where you talked about AT, but I did not like the parts where you called me stupid. Ughh.

JohnA

First of all, this is the last I’ll respond to this because I don’t think we need to fill up this space with an argument that shouldn’t be an argument at all.

I never called you stupid. I called ‘shipping questions stupid, and said that Jesse didn’t want to answer them. Just so it doesn’t seem like I’m “acting like I know him,” he has said this on this same page.

It seems like you may need to chill out a little bit and not read into stuff people say on the internet quite so much.

I’m sure any questions you have about relationships between characters will be answered in future episodes of the show, so why would you want to spoil that? That’s the fun of episodic shows like this. There’s a journey that will carry you through to the end, and if something doesn’t get answered it isn’t the end of the world. It’s actually how life is.

Just be patient and see what happens.
Personally I happen to think that Peebles and Finn do love each other, but in a more platonic, brother/sister way at this point. It seems pretty clear from the way they have acted this past season. That’s just my view though.

Jesse Moynihan

Sorry you feel dissed in my comments section. I appreciate your curiosity about where the story will go. I will not answer any questions about what might happen in the future though. You gotta watch it in real time!

Falconwarriorman

haha i’m cool. i don’t really feel dissed. thanks man!

andy

Jesse, these last 6 episodes where amazing. The finale was the GREATEST TELEVISION I HAVE EVER SEEN. And it is largely due to your nailing of the psychedelic visual designs and scenarios. I’m so sad to hear that Andy has left and that you wish to follow suit. I understand that you need to follow your paths and am happy he got to leave on such a powerful note. I need you to understand that when the comet began his her it’s monologue with “This is your crisis” it hit me so hard. Then the list, oh ho the list – with the excellent bong noises added- I had two tears running down each of my cheeks as i witnessed the apex of cartoon network. You guys (you two specifically) are the shit, living entertainment animation legends. Please don’t be afraid to explore psychedelic themes again and convince andy to storyboard and write with you again on any project you see fit. thank you for existing

andy

thank you for confirming my suspicions

Jesse Moynihan

Glad you dug those bongs man!

andy

was this your interpretation or a decision made by someone?

Jesse Moynihan

It’s in part my interpretation, but also an observation of the general tone of our meetings and hallway/office discussions. Over the course of a season, you get a sense for the tone or message and you try to push those ideas. Decisions on Adv Time are made in a very loose and collective way. You have to stay on your toes and be sensitive to how ideas are developing from episode to episode.

Elliott

I was discussing Jung’s nigredo with a friend, and the nature of agency/self-actualization through crisis. The comet’s/thing’s line “This is your crisis” (I think that’s what it said), started to echo in my head in a very haunting way. This ep stuck with me, really great work.

After seeing Mad Max and how much is communicated without dialogue, or spelling-it-out for the audience, I’m thinking how one can accomplish a scene like the comet and Finn, which are naturally heady and lend well to dialogue. I think Black Rainbow Rising did a good job of communicating a spiritual/new-age story with very little dialogue. Dunno if you’re familiar with it. I’d love some recommendations from you, if you understand what I’m getting at.

Jesse Moynihan

I haven’t seen Black Rainbow Rising but I’d say one of the great, iconic works of science fiction that communicates on a deep level through pure visuals is Kubrick’s 2001. It’s curious that 2001 is often used as a parody or homage reference in subsequent media, but not the intent of that style of storytelling.

“This is your crisis” was inspired by the psychological work of Stan Grof. I think he termed it spiritual crisis or something: essentially meaning when a person is on the edge of powerful revelation that could be misinterpreted as a mental breakdown. Pretty much what some people describe as a kundalini awakening in the crown chakra.

Guest

Will there be a future episode when Marceline and Betty have a mother-daughter bonding? Also, here is my idea for an Adventure Time episode for Halloween. After getting tired of being scared by Marceline, Finn and Jake try to scare her back but doesn’t work with all their attempts. Until they decided to dress up like The Lich to scare which succeeded but it turns out that Marceline has great fear of The Lich because she was there during the Mushroom War when Simon fought him which traumatized her as a child. Finn and Jake apologies to Marceline and decided to have fun during Halloween until at the very end The Lich appears in Sweet P’s dream promising to destroy the world when he is free. I hope you like this idea and have a great day!

Sergio Velázquez

I wonder if we’ll ever see childhood or past of Princess Bubblegum?

Yosuke Kirie

How thematically (and tangibly) connected has Season 7 been, compared to previous seasons?